


The Way to His Heart

by hchollym



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, Protectiveness, meddling siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2018-01-12 04:45:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1182080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hchollym/pseuds/hchollym
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dwalin keeps protecting Ori, everybody assumes that it's because the warrior is in love with the scribe, but Dwalin is actually interested in an entirely different Ri brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way to His Heart

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say? I love this couple, and this is my head-canon for them. 
> 
> Comments are always lovely, and they make my day <3

Dwalin saw the bowman pointing his arrow at Ori, and he sprang into action immediately. He was a trained warrior, so it was his job to be able to assess a situation quickly, and after seeing Ori in danger, he also saw the fear and terror in Dori’s eyes. The elder dwarf was too far away from his younger brother to reach him in time, so Dwalin jumped in front of Ori to act as a shield without hesitation. 

It wasn’t the first time that he had protected his One's younger brother, and he doubted that it would be the last. Everyone was protective of their brothers, but none so much as Dori. He mother-henned and fussed over Ori as if he were his own child. It annoyed the younger brother to no end, but that trait was one of the things that Dwalin found so endearing about the oldest Ri brother. 

He was one of the toughest, strongest fighters of the company, yet he managed to have a soft, paternal side as well. He was the whole package; so it was no wonder that Dwalin had fallen in love with him. He hadn’t meant to, of course. 

He had always considered love to be a burden; something that made you vulnerable and prevented you from thinking clearly. Those kinds of weaknesses were something that a professional soldier simply could not afford to have, because it would give the enemy the advantage. Yet here he was, acting without thinking in the name of love. It was rather ironic when he thought about it. 

Their first meeting had hardly been the stuff of love songs. Dwalin had arrested Nori, and Dori had come to bail his brother out of jail. The first thing that Dwalin noticed was his elegant appearance, with his intricate braids and shining hair. His face was kind and smooth, despite his older age, and his eyes were bright and expressive. He was attractive, but that wasn’t what captured Dwalin’s attention. No, there were plenty of attractive dwarves around. It was Dori’s behavior and personality that caught him off guard. 

Despite having to trudge down to the jail in the middle of the night and pay to bail his brother out, the dwarf was surprisingly polite and even apologized to Dwalin for any problems that his brother might have caused. Dwalin had merely blinked and grunted in reply, not entirely sure how to respond. Most dwarves came down to the jail in a fit of rage, usually yelling at the guardsmen for wasting their time and money, or at the very least, they sent them silent, irritated looks. 

When Dori had turned his attention to his brother’s cell, his expression changed drastically. He scowled and narrowed his eyes, putting his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot in annoyance. As soon as Nori was out of his cell, the other grabbed him by the ear and dragged him from the jail, like a mother scolding her child. Dwalin found it amusing, but he didn’t think much of it. 

Their second meeting had occurred when Balin dragged him to a tea shop, insisting that he needed to open himself up to trying new drinks. Dwalin had protested, but eventually caved when his brother gave him his best sad smile that screamed ‘disappointed’. He was always a sucker for that look, and Balin knew it. He was slightly surprised to find that Dori was the owner of the shop, but the grey-haired dwarf greeted them pleasantly, despite the circumstances of their last meeting. 

“Ah, Master Balin, so nice to see you! And a pleasure to see you again too, Master Dwalin,” he said in a friendly tone. Dwalin had blinked dumbly at that, surprised that the other dwarf had remembered his name. Most dwarves would have forgotten the name of someone that they had such a small, trivial encounter with. He conveniently ignored the part of his mind that pointed out that he had remembered Dori’s name too. 

When a young dwarf entered the shop with his head buried in a book, Dori had smiled fondly at him and proudly introduced him as his younger brother. He then proceeded to wipe a smudge of ink off the younger’s cheek, much to Ori’s embarrassment. It was quite different behavior than Dori had displayed with Nori. 

Dwalin didn’t doubt for a moment that Dori loved Nori – he wouldn’t have bothered bailing him out of jail if he didn’t – but Ori was obviously the baby of the family; the one who could do no wrong in Dori’s eyes. Dwalin was the baby of his family too, and his mother used to fuss over him in a similar way. He missed it, and he found himself drawn to Dori’s fussy ways. 

Their third meeting was under dangerous circumstances. A pack of orcs had attacked a hunting party near their village, and a group of dwarves set out to deal with the before they could cause any more harm. Dwalin was part of that group, but to his surprise, so was Dori. 

The warrior had been concerned for the other’s safety, because someone so soft and gently surely should not be going off to chase down orcs. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the other during the fight – purely out of duty, of course, since it was his job as a seasoned warrior to take care of the innocent. At least, that’s how he justified it to himself. 

The group ended up being ambushed by the pack, who had doubled back and surprised them. He started cutting them down one by one, but his eyes sought out the tea maker’s form amongst the battle. He was shocked to find Dori not only holding his own, but fighting with the fierceness of a trained soldier. He watched as the grey-haired dwarf sliced an orcs head off in one clean blow and then turned around to stab another through the stomach.

His eyes were blazing with fire, and his expression was one of determination, yet his movements were fluid and graceful; almost like a dance. Dwalin was transfixed, completely forgetting about the battle around him, so he was caught off guard when an orc jumped in front of him and swung its sword toward his chest. He lifted his own, but not quickly enough to hold it properly for defense, and the blow hit his weapon roughly. 

His sword was thrown to the side as he was sent sprawling backward onto the ground. He had no way to protect himself as the orc approached him and raised his sword, but Dwalin raised his arms to shield his face and upper body slightly from the impact. None came. He looked up in confusion to see a sword sticking through the orcs stomach as blood dripped from its disgusting lips. 

The weapon was pulled out, and the orc slumped to the ground to reveal Dori behind it. His gaze quickly checked over Dwalin’s body for injury, and when he was satisfied that there was none, he returned to fighting another orc. Dwalin gulped before grabbing his fallen weapon and rejoining the battle. He didn’t fail to notice the warm, fuzzy feeling that had formed in his stomach.

After that, Dwalin began looking for excused to see the oldest Ri brother again. He used the ruse of buying tea for Balin to visit the teashop twice a week, but if Balin noticed that Dwalin kept giving him way more tea than he actually needed, then he said nothing about it and merely raised an amused eyebrow. Dori always insisted that Dwalin try whatever new flavor of tea he had in stock, and the warrior noticed smugly that he did not do the same to any other customers that entered the shop when Dwalin was there. 

Nori provided a good excuse to see Dori as well. The middle Ri brother was always breaking the law, but if Dwalin happen to go out of his way to be the one that arrested Nori, then no one suspected anything other than a guardsman with a grudge against a notorious criminal. Without fail, Dori showed up every time to bail his brother out, and if Dwalin happened to forget to collect the money several times, well then, it was simply because he was too tired to think about it.

When Dwalin received word from Thorin about his quest to reclaim Erebor, Dwalin hadn’t hesitated in agreeing. Thorin was his king, cousin and friend, and he would gladly accompany him to take back their homeland. He hadn’t even been aware that Dori was going as well until they saw each other in Bag End, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. This gave him an excuse to spend a lot of time with the other dwarf without causing any suspicion. 

Dwalin never discussed his attraction for the eldest Ri brother with Balin, but he was positive that his older brother knew anyway. He always found excuses to engage the two families in discussion, and then just happened to talk to Ori or Nori while Dwalin talked to Dori, and for once, the warrior was actually grateful for his brother’s interfering ways. 

It also became apparent very quickly that Dwalin had been right about Ori being the baby. Dori would fuss over him non-stop throughout the journey; he would make sure that Ori was warm enough and had enough to eat, and he kept a protective eye over him whenever they ran into trouble. On the surface, it seemed like Dori was more protective of Ori than Nori, but Dwalin could see that his attention was given equally to both brother.

It was just that Ori couldn’t protect himself as much as Nori could, which was why Dwalin had started to keep an eye on him as well. If he could protect Ori, then Dori could focus on himself and the middle brother, and it would ease his burden, if only slightly. Dwalin didn’t hesitate to lend the younger dwarf his Warhammer in Goblin Town or pull Ori away from an escalating argument with Fili and Kili in Mirkwood, despite being in the middle of his own fight at the time. 

He started to see Ori as a little brother, despite his lack of a real relationship with Dori, but he couldn’t help it. His protective instincts had even started to appear for Nori, though he still had a hard time accepting that. He had been doubtful at first that the tea maker would ever return his feelings, and he still was, but every once in a while, he would catch Dori keeping an eye on him during their battles too. It made Dwalin’s heart beat faster, and he fought with renewed vigor, even in the most hopeless times. 

The bowman ended up not being a threat to them (not an immediate one anyway), and the dwarves piled onto the barge for the journey to Lake-town. Dwalin saw Nori arguing adamantly with Ori about something, and the younger dwarf looked incredibly uncomfortable with whatever it was. Dori was frowning but remained silent, and Dwalin wondered what their conversation was about. 

He didn’t have to wonder for long though, because Ori sighed in defeat and began to walk towards him. He blinked when the younger dwarf stopped in front of him. The scribe was shifting from foot to foot awkwardly as he spoke in a quiet voice. 

“I wanted to thank you for protecting me today, Master Dwalin.” The warrior grunted uncomfortably in response, trying to ignore the fact that Dori and Nori were watching them. He shrugged. 

“It was nothing.” Ori glanced back hesitantly at his brothers, and Nori gave him an insistent nod. The younger dwarf sighed and began to stare intently at his feet. 

“I also wanted to say that, while I am very flattered by your attention and think you are a great companion, I am not romantically interested in you.” He said the words gently, as if he was trying to let Dwalin down easily, and the warrior’s eyes widened in surprise while Nori crossed his arms smugly. 

Dwalin stood tensely as his face turned an ugly shade of red. Beside him, Balin chuckled in amusement, and he shot his brother a glare before returning his gaze to the scribe once more. They stood in an awkward silence for a moment, neither entirely sure what to say, and Nori took it upon himself to intervene. 

“I’ve seen the way you’re always protecting Ori, but let’s get one thing straight. There is no way in hell that I will ever let you date my little brother.” His voice was low and threatening, and Dwalin made a mental note to cross Nori off of his list of people to protect. Ori looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole as he continued nervously. 

“It’s nothing against you, of course, Master Dwalin! As I said before, I find you to be a great companion and an excellent fighter, but I am already interested in someone else,” he tried to explain, and his eyes glanced over to Fili briefly. Under any other circumstances, Dwalin would have been amused by the new information.

He had no idea what to do now. Should he say nothing and let everyone think that he was interested in Ori and that the scribe had rejected him, or should he tell him the truth and admit one of his biggest secrets? He was not inclined to do either, but a glance at Dori gave him his answer. 

The dwarf looked disappointed, and it stabbed at Dwalin’s heart. The last thing that he wanted was for Dori to think that he was interested in his little brother (who was way too young for him, by the way). It would ruin any chance that he had with the other dwarf, and quite possibly put him on Dori’s bad side. He cleared his throat and forced himself to keep his voice even as he spoke. 

“You’re a fine young dwarf, laddie, but I’m not interested in ya. I’ve been protecting ya because your brother is my one.” Ori’s eyes widened in shock, and Nori looked like he was going to be sick as he eyed Dwalin in disgust. Dwalin snorted loudly at the ridiculous notion. 

“Don’t flatter yerself.” The red-haired dwarf relaxed a little, but he and Ori still blinked in confusion for a moment before realization finally dawned on them. They both gaped at him, and Nori looked torn between amusement and anger. Dwalin chanced a look over in Dori’s direction, and the oldest Ri brother’s surprised expression quickly morphed into a genuine smile. 

As he approached the group, Dwalin felt himself fidgeting under his stare and had to force himself not to avert his gaze to the ground like a coward. Finally, after what seemed like an hour to Dwalin but was really only a few seconds, Dori stopped in front of him and wordlessly pressed his lips to the warrior’s. Dwalin’s eyes widened as he froze in shock.

The younger Ri brothers gasped, and Nori quickly covered Ori’s eyes with his hand to try and shield him from the sight of his brother kissing anyone. Balin was chuckling softly to himself, and the rest of the company had taken to staring at them in disbelief and confusion.

As Dori started to pull away due to Dwalin’s lack of response, the warrior finally recovered his wits and responded. He quickly wrapped his arms around Dori and pulled him close to him once more as the grey-haired dwarf cupped Dwalin’s face with his hands. 

The kiss was intense and almost desperate, with a clash of teeth and tongues. Dori’s kiss was just like his personality; strong and firm, yet somehow gentle and soft at the same time. By the time they pulled apart, they were both grinning like madmen. 

“Thank you for protecting my brother, Master Dwalin.” There was an evident fondness in his voice, and Dwalin noticed the warm and fuzzy feeling that appeared in his stomach again. It seemed that the way to Dori’s heart had been through his brothers all along. He would definitely be protecting Ori more often if this was the thanks that he would get for it.


End file.
